Water-power plant.



A; G. WATKINS.

WATER POWER PLANT.

APPLICATION man MAR-19.1917.

RENEWED FEB. 25, 1918.

Patented Oct. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET lm: NORRIS #:rsns ca. PHOTO-H1010 wnsa-nucmn. I:v c.

A. G. WATKINS.

WATER POWER. PLANT. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19, 1917. BENEWED FEB. 25. 19l8.

1,20,;617. I Pateutd ()0t.1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

at??? (ac/1 COMPANY, or AMERICA,

WATER-rowan PLANT.

Application filed March 19, 1917, Serial No. 155,756.

To all whom it may concern, I

Be it known that I, ARTHUR G. WATKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Power Plants, of whichthe following is a specification. i

This invention relates to the generation of mechanical and electricalpower, and more particularly to that class known as hydrau lic electrical power plants, which are movable'and upon beingfanchored in a stream are 'actuatedby the current thereof.

This application is are-filing of a pre, vious application comprising like drawings and wording,"originally, filed January 27, 1914:, Serial No. 814,746, allowed August 5,

1914' and which became forfeited. Thatap-' come abandoned. V I

The object'of this invention is'to provide plication was renewed August g, 1916 andv again allowed August 25, 1916 'andhas be a simple, relatively inexpensive, yet highly efficient power plant of the type described, which is particularly adapted to the needs of individual owners infrural districts,;or in the neighborhoods of relatively narrow,

' swiftly moving streams.

1 whether tidal or directional.

Another object is to-provide'in such a plant improved means for taking advantage of substantially all of the power generated by 'a given cross sectional area of a stream,

' drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the invention in its preferred form, with'the upper "moved." I Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of ig. 1, showing the lower and upper deflec'tingwalls and the p'addle-wheel hood in 1 .c

"Fig. 3 is atop plan view of a barge, or scow, equipped with substantially duplicate power-plants at'oppositeends for taking ad- An Trina e. WATKINS, or PI-iIilADEIiPI-IIA, i?l1\TiiSStLvANIA, AssreNomBYivi' fiE d ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE WORLDS CHEAPEST POWER INC.,-A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE. i

V specification of Letters Qatent. I' Oct, 1918; Renewed FebruaryQ/S, 1918; Serial No. 219,159. r

' deflecting wall and 'paddlee-wheel hood rcvantage 1 of the alternate fiow' in tidal streams 1 Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4 4cof ,Fig.1.'"

- Figl 5 is an enlarged detailiview of one of the side deflecting wall extensions to gether with means for inalntaining thesanie in operative position.

''Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of the l means for vertically adjusting the upper and lower deflecting Walls.

Fig. 7 is a detail side elevation th paddle-wheel hood; V

Fig. Sis an enlarged detail viewof one of .l

thevanes and the method of mounting the same uponthe endless powerbelts Fig. 9 isa horizontal sectional viewon the linec9-9 of Fig; 2.

Fig.10"is-an'enlargeddetail View of the telescoping section of" the generator-driving shaft, partly in 'section. 1

Referring to 'thedrawings," a scow, barge or other suitable float 1, is provided with the 'substantiallyparallel forwardextensions 2, through which is journaled a shaft 3, carrying between said extensions a suitable paddle or bucket wheel 1. The said scow is also provided adjacent to its outer edges with substantially parallel extensions 5, longer than the extensions 2 and connected at their outermost ends to the correspondingends of the diverging walls 6; the front wall of said scow together with the said extensions 2 and 5 and diagonal walls 6, forming compart-' ments'7 and 8 upon the opposite sidesof the front ofthe device and having their lower V portions closed by suitable walls'9. l The shaft 73 projecting through the -ex-.

tensions 2 is journaled at one end in a suitablefbearing 15 and adjacent-thereto carriesabeveled ear 16,"for a purpose herein- 7 after 'describe d, while the oppositely 'pro- J change in the direction of th'esaid flow, the

the beveled gear 19.

jecting end portion carries a beveled gear 17 V and is journaled in a suitable bearing 18, while the end proper of the said shaft -carries a bevel or crown gear 19; V

Located in any suitable position in the compartment 8 is a generator 20 for creating the supply of electric current desired, while in the compartment 7 are suitably lo-" cated the secondary or storage cells 21 for storing up the energy from the said generator for future use when the said energy is not being put to immediate use. The necessary electrical connections between the generator, storage cells and usual sw1tch board are not shown, as the same form no part of the present invention.

For driving generator 20 fromthe shaft 3, actuated by the flow of water against the paddle-wheel 4, a short countershaft 25 is provided, the same being journaled in suit able bearings 26 and carrying oppositely disposedbeveled gears27/and '28, respectively, so positioned that a longitudinal shifting ofthe shaft 25 operates to shift them alternately into operative relation with The countershaft 25 is made hollow at oneen'd and with a polygonal cross section and is adapted to receive telescopically a similarly shaped end 29 of a shaft 30,.which in turn drives the movable part of the generator '20. Thus, during the longitudinal shifting of the countershaft 25,. a firm relationship with the shaft 30 is constantly maintained regardless of the position of the former. The shifting of the shaft 25 is permitted for the purpose of maintaining a constantly uniform direction of revolution of the shaft 30, regardless .of the way in which the paddle-wheel 1 may, be revolving, the same being altered in a tidal stream with the alternate ebb andffiow thereof. As shown in Fig.1, the said shaft 25 is in the position assumed when the current in the stream is flowing. from the rear toward the front of the device. With a blade or vane 35 extending downwardly into' the water,-will be forced in the direction of the arrow 36 in Fig. 1 by virtueof its being carried upon one end of a rod 37, inturn pivoted at38 ,to a stationary part of the scow. The said rod 37 is pivotally secured at its upper end 39 to an elbow 40, pivoted at 41, and in turn pivotally secured at its opposite end 42 to a sleeve 43, which encircles the countershaft 25 preferably betweenthe V beveled gears '27 and. 28. Thus, as the said vane is moved in the direction of the arrow 36, the said elbow 40 1S moved in turn in clockwise direction thus removing thegear 27 out of the gear 28 into cooperation with the gear 19. Thus, whilethe paddle wheel 4 of the invention as thus far described may be revolving in either direction,

depending upon its position with relation to the direction of the flow of the stream in which it is located, the movable parts of the generatorf20 can rotate only in one predetermined direction.

counters the converging walls 6 and finally impinges against the paddle-Wheel l, the

effective power of a normally slowly flowing stream being thus greatly increased. For

the purpose of taking advantage of the power exerted I by the rush of the water against the walls 6, there-are provided similar endless power chains or belts 50, carried by drums 51, in turn carried upon shafts 52 supported by bearing blocks 53, the rea-rmost of the said shafts extending upwardly and. carrying suitable pulleys or sprocket wheels 54, connected by a belt or sprocket chain 55 with pulleys or sprocket wheels 56 mounted upon the shafts 57, which at their. lower ends carry beveled gears 58, adapted to cooperate with the beveled gears 16 and 17 respectively. The outer surfaces of the belts 50areprovided with blades :60, pivotally secured as at 61, to the said belt as shown by the dot-and-dash lines of Fig.

8, yet being restrained againstswinging be-,

yonda position in a plane perpendicular to that ofv the said belt by a suitable chain or other member 62. Instead of depending solely upon the friction of the belts .50 against the drums 51, for turning the shaft 52, either or both of the upper and lower also made for additionally increasing this force as well as directing it solely against the end part of said wheel. This is accomplished by providing oppositely slanting Walls and 71, respectively, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the same being revoluble about the shafts 72 and 73, respectively, while their forward ends are adjustable vertically toward and away from each other by means of a right-hand threaded shaft 74, revolubly supported, by brackets 75, and in threaded relation with sleeves 76 which are in pivotal engagement with blocks 77 secured in turn to the said walls 70 and 71, respectively. Thus by manually or otherwise revolving the wheels 76 carried upon the'upper ends of the shafts 74, the adj acent'outer end portions of the walls 70 and 71 are brought nearer together or separated farther apart as may be desired, the outlet betweenthe rearmost portions of the said walls being maintained always in thesame position with respect'to the paddle-wheel 4:.

For taking advantage of the power of the Water as it rushesalong the adjacent" surfaces of said walls 70 and 71, similar power belts 80 are provided, which are of substantially the same construction as the power belts 50 and are carried by pulleys or'drums 81 and 82 at the forward and rearward ends, respectively, of said last named walls, the said drums 82 being operative to revolve the respective shafts 72 and 73 and thus through a side belt or sprocket chain 83 to convey additional power to the shaft 3. The belts 80 carry blades 84 in a manner similar to the belts 50 hereinbefore described, the said blades being prevented from movement beyond a certain point in one direction by suitable chains 85. By thus mounting the blades upon all of the belts the blades are permitted to fold inwardly as they move in one direction, thusofi'ering little or no resistance to the flow of water thereby.

For discontinuing the operation of the plant by stopping the action of the paddlewheel 4, there is provided a hood 90 having an enlongated extension 91 adapted to project downwardly in front of all parts of the paddle wheel when the said hood is in its lowermost position. Said hood is braced by a suitable framework 92 provided with a recess 93, adapted to encircle the shaft 3, and it is carried as a whole by integral rearwardly extending blocks 94 adapted to slide vertically upon any suitable form of track 95, in turn secured to the outer side of the adjacent wall of the scow, said hood being raised and lowered by means of a threaded shaft 96, extending through said block 94 and supported by a suitable bracket 97 the said shaft being revoluble by a hand or other wheel 98.

When the width of a stream is considerably greater than the distance between the outermost edge portions of the walls 6, and it is desired to take advantage of a. greater volume of water than would otherwise flow therebetween, extensions 100 must be provided for the said walls, and are hingedly secured thereto as at 101, while the outermost edges of the respective extensions 100 are provided with blocks 102, having oppositely extending ears 108 provided with holes 104 and 105 respectively. When in operative position, a chain or other suitable means 106 passes through and extends between the holes 104 of the respective blocks 102. WVhen it is desired to fold or swing said extensions out of operative position, they assume the position shown on the. left side of Fig. 1, and are secured by a removable pin 107 passing through holes 108, in

block being received in a suitable recess provided therefor inthe respectively adja-- cent walls 5. I

In the modified form of the invention-as shown in Fig. 3, the hereinbefore described device is constructed in substantially"duplicate form upon the opposite ends of the scow, barge or floating platform as the case may be. In this form the device is particularly well adapted to streamsin which there isa periodic or occasional change in the direction of the flow of the water. Further than this it is obvious that many additional changes or modifications may be made in the form in which the invention is embodied, without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims,

wherefore, the broadest attitude interpretive of this invention is the desire of the applicant herein.

Having now fully described this invention and explainedrthe mode of its opera tion, what I claim is z 1. The combination of a floating member, with a power generator, comprising a water wheel, an electric generator operated thereby, horizontally converging walls operative to increase the power of an available current of water against said wheel, and power generating means carried upon the adjacent surfaces of said converging walls to supplement the power generated by the said water wheel for operating said electric gen 'erator.

2. The combination of a floating member, with a power generator, comprising a water wheel, an electric generator operatedthereby, horizontally converging walls and vertically converging walls operative to increase an available current of water against said wheel, and power generating means carried upon the inner surfaces of said converging walls, to supplement the power generated by said wheel for operating the said electric generator.

3. In combination, a floating member, a power generator thereon comprising a water wheel, an electric generator operated there by, vertically converging walls operative to increase an available current of water against said wheel, and power generating means carried upon the inner surface of said walls to augment the power generated by said wheel to operate the said electric generator.

4. In combination, a floating member. a power generator thereon comprising a water wheel and an electric generator operated thereby, vertically converging walls operative to increase an available current of water against said wheel, and power generating means carried upon the inner surface'of .said walls'to augment the power generated by said, wheel to operate the saidelectric generator, and means operable from the water to change the connection between the said wheel and generator to maintain a constant directionv of movement of the generator as the movement of the wheel changes in direction.

5. In a, water power plant, the c01nbina-. 10 tion with a floating member, of a water wheel rotatively supported by the said member, walls arranged to direct thetfiowing water against the saidwheel, and power generating means arranged in the path of the water upon one the said walls and operatively connected with the said wheel to supplement the power generated by the said wheel. 1

:In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ARTHUR G. WATKINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents eaeh, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.? 

